


Cause I can stay (Or honey I could go)

by Anonymous



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst, Caretaker Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Happy Ending, Lack of Communication, Little Jaskier, M/M, Non-Sexual, Non-Sexual Age Play, Panic Attacks, Relationship Discussions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:48:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26720920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Jaskier is terrified of Geralt finding out he regresses.Geralt doesn't mind so much at all.Completely SFW, Geralt and Jaskier have a romantic relationship when big but they are completely platonic when Jaskier is little.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 42
Kudos: 306
Collections: Anonymous





	1. When your love is gonna show

Jaskier had been regressing for a long time before he met Geralt. If he had to guess, he’d say it started after he broke up with Marx. It was a way to express himself just as much as a way to repress everything guilty and burning inside of his torn heart when Valdo locked him out of their apartment that night. He never did get his things back from the bastard. 

Essi picked him up, and he cried in her arms and onto her nice plush throw blanket until the sun showed through the clouds and it was time to put away his broken bits, his cracked pieces. 

_ Wake up, Jaskier, time to be big now.  _

Geralt just wouldn’t understand. Nobody did. Not even Essi, as much as she tried to reassure Jaskier she didn’t find it strange at all and that it was completely normal for someone like him to go through a stage of coping mechanisms, Jaskier didn’t believe her. 

_ Someone like him. _

She thought he was a freak, just like the rest of them.

So he hid it from Geralt. His sweet, kind, endlessly patient and terribly understanding boyfriend who truly wanted nothing more than to see Jaskier smiling. Geralt couldn’t know. He wouldn’t. Jaskier made sure of that.

He only regressed when he was completely and assuredly alone. When Geralt was out of town was favorable, but he rarely did so. So Jaskier chose the dark night hours, when nobody would come knocking at his door, when nobody would see him so vulnerable. So little. 

He started to lose sleep. 

Geralt started to notice. 

When his boyfriend insisted on having Jaskier sleep over at his apartment more often (“You always sleep better when you cuddle me”), Jaskier cut regressing out of his life entirely. 

It was stupid, anyway. He wasn’t a baby. He was  _ big _ . He was  _ capable _ . He was-

So helpless. 

-

He was phasing out again. 

His guitar was a comforting presence in his lap, and he tried not to notice the way he hugged it close. It would have been nice to have something soft, something comforting, just for him. But he wouldn’t let himself have something so silly and stupid. He didn’t need it. 

Jaskier’s guitar pick was between his teeth, chewing and biting into the hard plastic as he stared blankly at the sheet music spread out on his bed. 

Jaskier blinked back into his own body. He grabbed the pick and tucked it between the strings of the first fret, pushing his guitar off his lap and burying his face in his hands. He rocked slightly, a self-soothe as he whispered under his breath. 

“Stop it, Jask. Stop it. You’re fine.” He muttered. “Grow up, dammit.” 

He just felt terrible afterwards, hollow and nauseated like he was fighting off a fever. Maybe he should go to the Doctor’s, just in case. Maybe he should just ignore it.

-

“Jask?” 

“Hm?” Jaskier looked up from his empty plate, where he’d been staring into the milky reflective surface and studying the pale freckles on his cheeks. Across him, Geralt tilted his head in that concerned, thoughtful manner of his. His hair was pulled back into a messy bun and he was wearing Jaskier’s favorite black hoodie. 

“Where did you go just now?” Geralt asked, and he smiled just a pinch. 

“What?” Jaskier frowned. “I’m right here.”

Geralt gave a gentle, not unkind laugh. “If you say so. Hey, which burger should I get…?”

It all faded into hazy, smoky blue. Like a spotlight on a stage filled with atmospheric fog. Except he couldn’t find the spotlight, he was trapped in the dark. 

Geralt couldn’t know. 


	2. Your minor keys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW- Jaskier has a panic attack at work and passes out. Essi and Geralt care for him <3
> 
> Thank you so much for the kind response to the first chapter! This is sort of a cathartic comfort fic for me so it means a lot that people are enjoying it <3

On the left side of his queen bed- the one he picked up at a garage sale a month after moving in to save him from sleeping on the floor swathed in blankets about half the wooden supporting slats of the bed frame had snapped. It left a dip in his mattress, a little nest where dust and occasional tears gathered. If Jaskier closed his eyes and imagined real hard, if he pulled enough blankets on top of him and curled tight as possible into that little dip, he could almost feel like he was tucked into a cradle. 

He woke up feeling bleary and distinctly not himself. Or maybe he was feeling like himself for the first real time in a while. Immediately he wanted to cry. Nothing was wrong but- but he was a water pipe. And the pressure had built up and up and up and he wanted to  _ burst _ . 

Jaskier dragged himself out of bed, blankets caught around his legs. He sniffled and kicked them off, rubbing his palm over his eyes and blinked in the dark. He glanced at the clock- nearly five in the morning. Today was going to be a bad day. 

He couldn’t manage to fall back asleep, so he got ready for work and arrived an hour early to help Essi open up shop. It was how they met, Jaskier was the newest trainee at Starbucks and Essi was assigned to train him on his first day. They hit it off immediately. 

She always knew when something was wrong. 

“Julian, Julian.” She tsked, crossing her arms as she leaned back against the counter and watched Jaskier wipe down the registers. She was the only one who called him that, but Jaskier didn’t mind so much. He  _ liked _ nicknames, but rarely ever did someone give him one. “You’ve not been sleeping again. Your eye bags are like, luggage sized.”

“Urgh, all the more reason for you to make me an espresso.” Jaskier groaned. 

Essi shook her head but got to work anyway. 

People in Jaskier’s life- he knew they’d do anything for him. Essi, Geralt. But- he couldn’t ask for help. He just couldn’t.

-

There was a customer yelling at him. He was rattling on and on about Jaskier getting his order wrong, shoving the cup in his face and insisting he give the man a refund. There was a customer yelling at him and Jaskier couldn’t hear a thing. 

“Please stop,” he whimpered, shying away from the counter as the angry customer slammed a palm down between them. “Please- please stop it-”

“I thought you were an employee here?” The man shouted. “The customer is always right- give me my damn refund!”  
Tears stung at his eyes and- nonono he couldn’t cry here-

“Sir-” Essi’s voice cut in through the fog in Jaskier’s head and her hands settled on his shoulders, pulling him back and pushing him behind her. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave-”

Jaskier let out a helpless wail and jerked out of Essi’s gentle hold, stumbling back and hitting the counter. He was hiding behind his hands before he knew it, shielding himself from the world so they couldn’t see the tears gathering on his eyelashes, rolling down his cheeks. 

The man was screaming. Essi was yelling now, too, the voices warbled to Jaskier but too loud. Too much. He felt like a wave was crashing down around him, drowning him, choking him in sound. 

He hit the ground.

Everything was sort of soft after that.

-

“Julian?” Essi murmured, appearing from out of a calm ocean. She was holding a damp towel over his forehead, kneeling in front of him. “You with me?”

He gave a lolling nod, eyes flickering shut and leaning into the cool feeling of the towel on his skin. “Mmh, yeah.” He whispered. 

“Good boy. Hold that there.” She grasped his hand and placed it on the towel, letting him relax for a moment as she stood up. She was talking to someone- someone on the phone? Who was she calling?

“Essi?” He called out, sounding lost, and she was kneeling with him again in an instant. 

“Yeah?”

“Where…?”

“Backroom. You passed out behind the counter, Zoltan’s volunteered to take your shift today. I think you hit your head, Julian.” 

He whimpered and tilted his head forward. It didn’t really hurt- he just felt awful. 

“I’m calling Geralt to come pick you up.” Essi promised, and Jaskier’s eyes went wide. 

“No- nono-” he dropped the damp towel and started to sit up. All he wanted was to go home, curl up under his softest blanket, and melt. He didn’t want Geralt to see him like that. “I’m fine,” he said, getting to his feet despite Essi’s protests. “Don’t- he doesn’t need to come, I’m fine,”

“Sit back down!” Essi hissed. “You clearly just had a panic attack out there, you might have a concussion.” She guided him gently to a chair, sitting him down. Jaskier couldn’t help it. He just wanted to be… held. Cared for?

Something.

Something foggy and soft and distant. 

Maybe he  _ did _ have a concussion. 

-

When Geralt came he immediately went to Jaskier, kneeling and asking him if his head hurt, if he knew where he was, if he could hold up both hands for him. 

When Jaskier answered and acted to his satisfaction, Geralt cooed softly and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, helping him stand. “You don’t have a concussion, love, but I’m going to drive you home.” He told him. “We don’t have to talk about what happened until you’re ready, or not at all, but you don’t have to stay here. C’mon.”

Essi kissed Jaskier’s forehead and sent him on his way. Jaskier’s face crumpled as soon as Geralt sat him in the passenger seat. 

“Jask-”

Jaskier was crying, sobbing and shaking as he tried to curl in on himself. “I just- I didn’t know- I just-”

“Hey, it’s alright,” Geralt soothed softly. “That guy was an asshole Jask. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He was trying to comfort him from his panic attack, trying to assure him it wasn’t his fault. And while it helped somewhat, it wasn’t what Jaskier needed to hear. It wasn’t what  _ little _ Jaskier needed to hear. 

He was so scared. He knew he needed this, needed to be little and be vulnerable, but Geralt needed to  _ go _ . He couldn’t see this side of Jaskier. He’d think he was a freak or- or messed up, or even worse- he’d think Jaskier was some stupid baby. 

_ Stop crying, Jaskier. You’re a big boy. Stop crying. Don’t be a baby. _

  
  



	3. And it took me too long till I found out

Once Jaskier was buckled in, Geralt closed the door and went around to the driver’s side, sliding in and turning the key for the engine to roar to life. Jaskier usually loved riding in his pickup truck, chattering on about how much furniture they could fit in the truckbed when they finally moved in together. Now, his boyfriend was crying quietly with his head leaning on the window, slumped facing away so that Geralt couldn’t see his face. 

“Hold on, Jask.” He murmured, reaching over to stroke a hand down his arm. “I’m taking you home. You’ll be alright.”

Jaskier wasn’t  _ like _ this. Geralt wasn’t under any misconception that his love didn’t have bad days. But not like this. He never fell apart.

As he passed through a green light, Jaskier’s quiet sobbing quieted. 

“Jask?” Geralt hummed, glancing over. No response but the gentle rise and fall of his chest. He’d fallen asleep, crying so hard he became exhausted and passed right out. Geralt let out a rough sigh and turned his attention back to the road. 

He pulled into the parking lot for Jask’s building, parked and carried his dozing boyfriend against his chest to the elevator. He needed the rest. Geralt knew he didn’t sleep well usually, he couldn’t imagine how many hours Jaskier had spent up if he was under this much stress. 

Why didn’t he just tell Geralt? He could have helped. He  _ would _ have helped. 

Leaning back against the wall of the elevator, watching the little number over the closed door slowly go up as they ascended, Geralt let out a heavy sigh. Jaskier responded with a yawn. 

“Hey, Jask.” Geralt looked down, blinking. “You with me?” He started to dip to put Jaskier back on his feet but the musician let out a heartbreaking wail and wrapped his arms around Geralt, clinging to him tight and burying his face in Geralt’s chest. Geralt was quick to reassure him, hushing Jaskier and hugging him close. “Baby, baby- don’t cry-” he murmured, but Jaskier just whimpered. 

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, Geralt hurried through and to his darling’s apartment. He already had a spare key, and maneuvering around with Jaskier in his arms was difficult, but he managed to shove the key in and open the door. 

“Sweet boy.” He murmured, shutting the door with one foot and rushing to set him down on the couch. Jaskier made another broken noise and tried to hold on. “Fuck- Jaskier, I need you to let go.” Geralt didn’t mean to snap, but he’d spoken too loud, too fast, and his boy was recoiling with a new wave of hurt across his features. 

“I- I’m sorry-” Jaskier sniffled, pulling away and tucking his knees to his chest, curling up like a little pill bug. 

“Oh, Jask…” Geralt brought him back into his arms, hugging his stiff and curled up form. “I’m so sorry, baby. I’m not mad at you. You’re just feeling- vulnerable, huh? That’s okay.”

“Little.” Jaskier’s voice was muffled and quiet. 

“What?”  
“ ‘m little.” He spoke into Geralt’s chest. 

_ Oh _ . 

And all of a sudden, it made sense. 

“That’s right.” Geralt kissed the top of his head. “You’re little, and big emotions are scary and hard for little ones like you. It’s okay, baby, I’m here. I’ll take care of you.”

Jaskier nodded slightly, relaxing and uncurling. 

“I’m gonna go make you something to eat, baby. Do you want to nap while I make it?”

Jaskier protested fiercely. “No!” His boy insisted. “Don’t wanna leave you, please.”

Geralt sighed, fondly, and gathered him up in his arms. “Alright, baby. I’ll let you watch me cook, okay? Then we can eat, and then you’ll nap. That alright, sweetheart?”

Jaskier nodded against his shoulder, content for the time being. 

Geralt carried him to the kitchen, placing him to sit on the island while Geralt turned away to get out ingredients. Jaskier kicked his legs slightly, slowly at first, and then grinning as he started to come out of his upset shell. 

This was new. This was… not what Geralt was used to. 

But there was nothing he wanted more than to take care of his baby, his Jask. 


	4. Find my place there and there I'll stay

Geralt flipped the grilled cheese in the pan, glancing back for the billionth time to where Jaskier was sitting on the counter and entertaining himself by swinging his legs and humming a soft melody. His cheeks were still blotchy and red with tears, but his eyes weren’t so puffy and he wasn’t sniffling anymore. 

Something smelled of smoke, and Geralt whipped back around to turn off the heat, cursing under his breath. 

“Shit!”

Jaskier looked up, eyes wide. “Shit!” He echoed.

“Baby, no-” Geralt reprimanded while trying to slide the sandwich off of the pan and onto a plate, hissing as he flipped it to see one side completely charred. “No cursing.”

“ _ You _ said it.”

“I know, and I shouldn’t have.” Geralt took the plate in both hands, sighing heavily. “I ruined it baby, I’m sorry.”

“Nuh uh, didn’t ruin it.” Jaskier said, shuffling and sliding off of the counter and going to cling to Geralt’s arm, peering over his shoulder. “Oh.”

“Mhm.”

“It’s all  _ icky _ .”

“Mhm.”

Jaskier frowned for a moment with his arms wrapped around Geralt’s. He stayed like that, quiet, for a hint too long, and Geralt felt a hint of panic. 

“You alright, baby?” He asked, turning and gently placing his hand on Jaskier’s shoulder. He looked distant, stuck in a frown with glassy unseeing eyes. Geralt pressed the back of his hand to his forehead, and upon finding him a normal temperature, was at a loss for what to do. 

And then there was something clear in Jaskier’s eyes, something keen and  _ adult _ , and Geralt knew he’d snapped out of his regressive state. He wasn’t sure what caused it. If it was something he did wrong, or if Jaskier didn’t feel safe anymore. God, he really needed to do more research. 

Jaskier met his eyes, and flinched away from his touch. “Oh, fuck.” He muttered. “I really fucked this up, didn’t I. Shit. I am so, so sorry Geralt, I really- I really didn’t mean for you to see any of that, any of  _ me _ like that-”

“Jask,”

“No, please don’t say anything. I can take care of myself. Sorry you had to see that. You can go now.” Jaskier’s voice was shaking, nervous and fearful and so much  _ shame _ . “I’m not like that usually, I swear. We- we can talk about this later, if you want, I understand if you want to talk about our relationship. Shit. I never meant to do that around you-”

“Jask.” Geralt gripped his shoulder gently but firmly again. “We should talk, yes, but not like that.” He said clearly, hoping Jaskier would stop working himself up so much, or he’d really break down. “I don’t think you’re weird, or anything like that, alright? I don’t know much- anything- about being Little, but it’s alright that you do that. I’m happy to take care of you.” 

Jaskier was silent, heart racing as Geralt’s thumb rubbed little circles against his shoulder. “Really?”

Geralt smiled fondly. “Really. We all need to cope, sometimes. It’s alright that you do it in a different way. You had a tough day, and you needed to be a little vulnerable. I understand. It’s just not something I ever thought about us doing.”

“That’s because I didn’t want it to be  _ us _ doing it.” Jaskier admitted. “Just me. I was fine, just by myself. I don’t want you being a part of my regression to- to ruin  _ us _ .”

“And it won’t.”

Jaskier’s shoulders fell slightly, and he tilted forward, pressing himself into Geralt’s arms. “You’ve no idea how relieved I feel.” He breathed out. 

“Mmm.” Geralt wrapped him up in his arms, lifting him again to place him on the counter once more. “I’m gonna try making this stupid sandwich again. If you want, you can be Little again. You don’t have to, alright?”

Jaskier, looking down slightly at him, nodded. “Can I just see how I feel?”

“Of course.” Geralt stepped away, turning his back to get rid of the burned sandwich. Behind him, he heard Jaskier shuffling, and then feet hitting the floor as he ran off to the living room. Whatever his baby needed to do, Geralt would let him.

He would always, always support him.


	5. Roses by your feet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think I've left a note on this fic before but thank you so much for the support!! This fic has been so important to me and getting love and feedback means a lot.  
> Next chapter, Jaskier and Geralt get some supplies for Little Jask, and maybe some Eskel content, as a treat!

Jaskier toddled out of the kitchen, fingers stuck in his mouth as he melted back into that soft, comfortable space of being Little. Without worrying about Geralt being weirded out by his coping mechanisms, Jaskier happily went to the living room, climbing up on the couch and sitting with his knees tucked to his chest and curled against the arm of the couch. He wanted to watch cartoons, but he didn’t know how to use the remote. It confused him too much when he was Little, and complex thought wasn’t what Jaskier regressed for. He wanted the opposite- to worry about next to nothing and let the stress of his regular life and day to day responsibilities be forgotten. 

“Hey, baby.” Geralt hummed, walking into the living room holding the same plate with a new grilled cheese and setting it down on the coffee table. “Are you feeling Little again?”

Jaskier nodded, unwilling to stop chewing on his fingers to respond. Geralt made a little tsking noise and reached out, pausing right before he was about to grasp Jaskier’s wrist. Unspoken, in his amber eyes, Jaskier knew he didn’t want to overstep any boundaries Jaskier had and couldn’t communicate with him in this state. Jaskier nodded a little again, and Geralt slowly coaxed his fingers out of his mouth. 

“No eating on the couch. C’mon, come sit and I’ll put on a movie for you.” Geralt’s other hand cupped his waist and gently guided him to sit criss-cross on the floor between the coffee table and the couch. He grabbed the remote, Jaskier digging into the sandwich while he found something on Disney channel. He didn’t exactly have experience with kids. Being an uncle to Ciri didn’t really count.

Ciri was six years old and getting cuter every day. Geralt and Yennefer, Ciri’s biological mother, met in college and had a brief fling before mutually deciding to remain friends. Geralt loved visiting with his best friend and bestest niece, but the visits usually extended just to him chasing Ciri around the backyard while Yennefer and her girlfriend Triss sat on the porch, drinking iced tea and enjoying a break. So Geralt could play, he could entertain a kid for a while, but he didn’t have any idea what Jaskier needed as far as  _ care _ . 

He settled in the kitchen, sitting with his back to the counter so he could see Jaskier eating and watching intently through the doorway but had enough privacy to pull out his phone and do some intense googling. 

-

“Jaskier?”

He looked up from his sandwich. He’d eaten everything but the crusts, and Geralt made a mental note to cut them off next time. Next time was a warm thought, that Jaskier wanted Geralt to continue learning to take care of him. All he wanted was for his baby to be happy, after all. 

“Yeah?”

“Do you have any…” Geralt glanced back at his phone again. “Toys? Or um- or things you like, like to have when you’re Little?”

Jaskier just blinked, and shook his head. Geralt put his phone away and came closer, taking Jaskier’s plate and turning off the TV. Jaskier pouted, but much to Geralt’s relief didn’t start crying. He didn’t think he could handle that again, and Jaskier seemed to be a very emotional and fussy Little. 

“Would you like some? This blog says Littles should have supplies for when they’re regressed... toys, soft clothes, a pacifier, which you, baby, definitely need.” He smiled fondly. Jaskier got up and followed him as he went to the kitchen again. 

“I don’ need anything.” Jaskier mumbled dismissively, and Geralt set down the plate before kneeling in front of Jaskier and taking his hands. 

“It’s not always about what you need baby, It’s also about what you  _ want _ .” Geralt said softly. “If wearing soft clothes makes you happy, maybe that’s what you want. Or we could get you some toys. Blocks, or cars, crayons, stuffies. Whatever you want. Whatever will make you feel good and happy.”

Jaskier’s eyes seemed to light up a little. “Crayons?” 

“Yeah, any colors you want.” Geralt chuckled. “Do you want to go to the store today? It’s only four, we can come back here for dinner or we can go to my place. Do you have work tomorrow, baby?”  
That question soured Jaskier’s mood completely. He shook his head adamantly, but Geralt wasn’t sure if it was an answer to his question or a refusal to talk about work. “I don’t wanna go!” He said, grabbing Geralt’s hands tight, tears welling up at his eyes still red from his last meltdown. “Too much, too much, I don’t wanna!”

Geralt quickly pulled him into a tight hug, reassuringly firm and holding him still till his sniffles died down. Crisis averted, for now. “You don’t have to. I’ll call Essi and Zoltan. Sorry for bringing that up, baby. That’s not a good topic for Little you, huh?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“We don’t have to think about that at all, I promise. Let’s go wash up, your face is all sticky, baby.” Geralt loosened his arms slightly and started guiding Jaskier to where he knew the bathroom was. He grabbed a cloth, wet it with warm water and gently wiped down Jaskier’s face and had him wash his hands too before drying them. “You gotta tell me if you want to go to the store, though. We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

Jaskier considered it for a moment. “I wanna go.” He admitted. “Just… I wanna be bigger. Don’t feel good bein’ Little at the store.” 

Geralt nodded and rubbed little circles on his shoulder. “Alright. Then we’ll wait for you to get a bit bigger, and we’ll set off. It’ll be a fun trip, promise.”


	6. Chance and sweet coincidence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went back and added chapter titles! They're all lyrics from the song Baby Doll by the Fratellis which contains a few mature lyrics that I obviously won't be using. The title is also from this song. Thank you again for the love! Gonna sign off on my notes 'cause I'm on anonymous, so from now on, my notes will end like this:
> 
> xo Bunny (that's me!)
> 
> ps. check out my best friend's age regression fic with little!lambert! there's one chapter out of six so far and it is SO good, one of my favorites already! check it out [here!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27359740/chapters/66854881)

Big Jaskier, it turned out, hated the store as much as Little Jaskier did. He was hiding in his hoodie, grumbling and whining as Geralt guided them to the children’s section, but insisted on staying when Geralt asked if he wanted to just go home and cuddle.

“You really don’t have to make yourself stay if it’s making you uncomfortable.” Geralt told him as they stopped in front of a wall of plastic bottles and pacifiers. “I can come back on my own, or we don’t have to get anything at all if you don’t want it.”

“I don’t know how to explain it!” Jaskier said dramatically, throwing his arms up. “I want this. I want to be here and get things for when I’m Little, but it’s just  _ hard! _ I’m not used to… people knowing.”

“I understand.” Geralt said solemnly. He didn’t, really, understand, but he was trying. By god he would try his best to understand. 

They picked out a few items together. A baby blue regular pacifier and a pale yellow one with a heart backing. A sippy cup for toddlers with little handles and a puppy design running across the bottle. Jaskier took one look at the diapers and told Geralt he wasn’t interested, and Geralt simply passed that aisle. Anything his boy didn’t want or need, he felt no need to press on. They stopped by the soft things- blankets, toys, sheet covers and pillow cases decorated with cartoon designs and flowers. Though Jaskier blushed and insisted he didn’t need it, Geralt decided to buy a set of bedsheets decorated with yellow flowers that Jaskier had been eyeing. 

“Not about what you need.” He reminded his boy. “It’s also what you want.”

Jaskier was a bit overwhelmed by the quantity of stuffed animals. He asked Geralt to choose for him and then Jaskier could give the final verdict. Geralt selected a pink unicorn first, which Jaskier politely declined. Then it was a minky dot textured mouse which Jaskier seemed interested in but ultimately shook his head at. Finally Geralt selected a dog with patchwork ears and his tongue sticking out, and Jaskier grinned and nodded. 

“That one.” He decided. “I think it’ll be nice. It’s the perfect size to cuddle, isn’t it?” 

“Yes.” Geralt hummed in agreement. “It is.”

They wouldn’t find the type of clothing Jaskier really wanted here. He’d have to order it online. Onesies with the feet so he didn’t have to wear socks, sleepy shirts with silly designs on them, things that really made him feel Little. Still, Geralt helped him pick out a wardrobe of new pajamas to replace the ratty band shirt and sweats Jaskier usually slept in. 

“Baby boys need comfy clothes to play and sleep in.” Geralt said softly, when they were alone in the pajama section. He  _ didn’t _ let Jaskier know it was a direct quote from the blog he was referencing. Jaskier beamed, and didn’t seem to care either way. 

Geralt picked up a pair of pastel dotted fuzzy socks, and Jaskier piped up. 

“I don’t like socks.” He said. “We don’t have to get those.”

“These are for me.” Geralt informed him, and Jaskier grinned and kissed his cheek. 

Their next stop was the grocery store, and Jaskier had started to waver in headspaces in the car. Geralt held his hand tight, guiding him through the parking lot and hiding him against his side when they passed by other shoppers. 

“You want to go home?” He asked.

“Nuh-uh.” Jaskier mumbled, pulling his hood on again. “Just don’t wanna talk to anyone else.”

“Okay, baby. If you want to go home at any point, tell me. I won’t be upset if you need to leave.” He rubbed his hand over Jaskier’s shoulder and then wrapped the arm around him, guiding him to the frozen foods section to pick up some dinosaur nuggets. 

They turned it into a game. For every three healthy options Geralt picked, Jaskier got to pick one sweet or junk food. Geralt picked applesauce, pasta cut into little shapes, and the sauce to go with it, and Jaskier grabbed a pack of jello cups- strawberry flavored. 

“You better watch those,” Geralt said, watching his boy deposit the strawberry delicacies gently in their cart. “Or else I might eat them all.”

Jaskier gasped, and picked them back up, deciding to hold them for the duration of their grocery store visit until check-out. 

He was happily trotting alongside Geralt, head in the clouds as they neared the checkout, when Geralt said something and he startled. 

“Eskel! Hey!” Geralt grinned, leaving Jaskier’s side and their cart to walk toward a stranger in a red hoodie, arms out as they embraced tight. Jaskier, clutching his strawberry jello and unsure what to do. His instinct was to panic. Nervousness bubbling up in his chest, the urge to burst into tears and run to hide in Geralt’s arms, but he  _ couldn’t _ , cause there was a stranger there and Jaskier didn’t know what to  _ do _ .

“Geralt.” He said, voice wobbly and on the brink of cracking. Immediately, Geralt turned away from Eskel and covered Jaskier with his arms, pulling him against his chest.

“Shh,” he cooed softly. “You’re alright. ‘S just Eskel, he’s my brother. You were gonna meet him for Thanksgiving, remember?”

Jaskier shrugged and buried himself even closer. 

“Lambert’s your brother.” Jaskier insisted. Of course, Jaskier had only met half of Geralt’s family. Thanksgiving had been a fun affair, Geralt bringing Jaskier to Vesemir’s house to meet with him and Lambert. Eskel had cancelled on them on account of a family emergency- his biological daughter, Deidre, had reached out to him for the first time in a panic and he had to leave for several months during which Jaskier had never met him. 

Eskel had gotten with a woman in college and after a series of decisions she ended up pregnant but unwilling to share her life with Eskel. And Eskel, he understood. But when his daughter needed him, he went to her. It’d only been a week ago that Eskel called Geralt, telling him he was coming home. Geralt hadn’t even thought about introducing him to Jaskier, not when he was so caught up with caring for him as a Little. 

“Yeah, baby, and Eskel’s my other brother. C’mon, come say hi.” He gently turned Jaskier to face Eskel, but Jaskier squeaked and ran behind Geralt, hiding as if he was shorter than the man. 

“Hey kiddo.” Eskel said, his smile crinkling the scars on his cheek in a kind way. “I can still see you.”

“No,” Jaskier insisted. “You can’t, I’m hiding.”

Eskel smiled even brighter. “Well, can’t beat that logic. Jaskier, right? I’m Eskel. You don’t have to say hello if you don’t want to.” 

Jaskier shrugged, shuffling his feet and holding tight to the back of Geralt’s shirt. “I wanna go home.”

Geralt gave Eskel an apologetic look, but the man was already grabbing his own cart and heading toward checkout. “I’ll walk you two out.” He suggested, in that way, that someone spoke to a child meaning one thing and to the adult meaning another. He’d walk them out and then speak to Geralt while Jaskier was in the car, safe and comfortable and not having to speak to a stranger. Geralt was just baffled on how Eskel was taking this all in stride, not needing to ask any questions at all. Simply slipping into the role of being… basically… uncle Eskel. 

_ Huh _ , Uncle Eskel. Jaskier would like calling him that. 


	7. When morning comes, the sun is gonna shine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short one!!! I've been stuck and wanted to get this out before I move on to the next big plot bits
> 
> xx Bunny

“There you are.” Geralt hummed as he buckled Jaskier into the back seat, running a hand through his fluffy hair and setting the patchwork dog in his lap. “Just wait here while Uncle Eskel and I have a quick chat. And no fingers in your mouth, okay?”

“Mm.” Jaskier nodded, the ear of the dog already stuck in his mouth. “Wait’n here.”

Geralt left the door open a crack, the lights on in the car as he went around to the back where Eskel was leaning against the truck bed. “Let’s make this short. Your little one’s looking like he’s about to crash, he’ll need a nap as soon as you get home.” Eskel advised, eyebrow raised. 

“Alright, yeah- first question, how the hell do you know about this stuff?” Geralt asked, voice lowered nervously. He didn’t want Jask to catch him cursing and pick up the habit when he was Little.

Eskel tilted his head a little, weighing how he should answer. “I dunno if it’s for me to say, brother.” He said finally.

“What does that mean? You have a Little?” Geralt crossed his arms, shifting from foot to foot. “Why have I never met them? Is this a relationship?”

Eskel waved his hand. “No, no. Not a boyfriend. It’s um-” he struggled to piece together the proper words. “It’s Lambert.”

“ _ Lambert _ ?” Geralt repeated, eyes widening. “So you mean- you mean feisty, loveable asshole, menace baby brother of the family Lambert is a Little?”

“It’s been really good for him.” Eskel shrugged. “He came to me with it when he couldn’t regress alone anymore. It’s a really special thing he trusts me with, seeing him that vulnerable, and I’ve been able to connect with a whole community of caregivers. I should introduce you to some of them-”

“Sorry. Still trying to wrap my head around Lambert.”

“- we meet every other Saturday. I’m absolutely taking you this week. You’ll meet all the other caregivers and they can show you the ropes, you know?” Eskel offered, a lopsided smile wrinkling up his scars. “Lambert usually goes with me. You okay with that?”

Geralt shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. As long as he’s comfortable with me seeing him little. Would I bring Jask?”

“Only if he wants. But it might be good just for you to go the first time, sometime he’s big.” Eskel answered. 

A sharp cry from Jaskier’s door startled them both, the brothers rushing to open the door and see what had happened. Jaskier was still buckled in but was making grabby hands at the floor, whining and shaking. 

“Puppy!” He wailed, and Eskel quickly swooped in and picked the patchwork dog up from the car floor and handed it back to Jaskier who shoved his face into it like a pillow. 

“That’s my cue to get going.” Geralt sighed, patting Jaskier’s head before closing the door. 

“I’ll pick you up Saturday!” Eskel called, starting to walk back to his own car, and Geralt let out a strained sigh before getting into his truck.

Caring for Jaskier wasn’t a chore, but it was certainly something he needed more information on than the blogs and websites he’d religiously perused. He needed someone there to show him, and maybe this knock off mommy and me meeting would be his ticket to being a better caregiver for Jaskier.

God knows the little one deserved a good Papa. 


End file.
